Parillas and Tango

Well I'm into my second week here and life is really "coming together," so to speak.  I started a new class last Monday and I am having to speak much more Spanish than I have had to speak in the past.  It's making me work and that's a very good thing.  I am finding that it is relatively easy to understand what is being said to me, especially if they speak slowly to me, it is still creating sentences that is causing me some trouble. But I'm finding that as I walk around, I am thinking of how to say what I want to say or what I'm thinking in Spanish.  I'm trying to translate everything I want to say into Spanish.  This part of Argentina speaks with some pronunciations similar to Castalonian Spanish, so there are words that I'm not understanding purely because the accent is different.  I am confident that I will be able to speak well by the time I leave. 

Argentina is certainly known for its steak and its steakhouses called Parillas.  Every Tuesday, the school does a group dinner at a different restaurant and last Tuesday we went to a Parilla that was delicious.  The steak is more tender and juicier than most steaks you can get in the States and for a much smaller price.  Last night I went with about 15 people to another Parilla called The Steak of Jesus. One of the dishes is: Spaghetti con Jesus y fruta del mar.  The English translation on the menu was: Spaghetti with Jesus and seafood.  I don't know what Spaghetti with Jesus means, but we had a good time musing about it.  We ordered a variety of meats and vegetables and only had 8 bottles of wine between 13 people; I had bet that we had gone through at least 10.  But I was wrong. After our decadent dinner we went to one of the famous Milongas in Buenos Aires.  The Milonga is the Tango with a bit more passion and freedom.  We watched couple dance all night who were amazing.  I have not yet taken any tango classes, although I think I will start next week, but I did go out and dance with one older gentleman who spoke no Spanish and smelled of very bad body odor.  Despite that, I'm ready to return to Milongas and Tango shows because it was truly beautiful.

I had taken quite a few pictures in the past few days and for some reason, my camera has lost them. They were there last night and now they're not.  So that just means that I will have to go to more Parillas and more Milongas to show y'all the beauty of Argentina.

After a fantastic night of friends, laughter, wine, and culture, I woke up this morning unable to swallow very well and fighting the flu or a cold or something.  So unfortunately I didn't make it to class and have spent most of the day sleeping.  We are going off to Uruguay for the weekend, so I'm trying to save my energy for that trip.  I am hoping that my camera will work and pictures from this weekend can be uploaded for the next blog.  I am looking forward to getting out of the city for a couple of days, seeing other places, and experiencing different food and scenery.  

Back to bed for me....

Marissa